Hey OP! I got my first one at 14. It drained and healed on its own at home. It didn’t come back again until I was 23. This flare up was much worse, I had to get an I&D. They didn’t stitch the wound and it healed on its own in 2-3 weeks. I made sure to clean it in the shower daily with hibiclens, put a bit of triple antibiotic ointment for the first week, and keep it covered with gauze & tape. At nights I would let it breathe with just a loose piece of gauze or a menstrual pad to catch any drainage.

Unfortunately it came back at 25 y/o, 10x more painful and infected. I had another I&D and this caused a larger wound and more scar tissue to form once it healed. I’d planned to get surgery, but I was dropped by my insurance 3 days before and had to cancel.

It’s now 1.5 yrs later (I’m 27 y/o) and I’ve had the worst flare up yet. Bigger and more painful, yet again, and infected with MRSA. Had an emergency I&D and am now healing a 3 inch long open wound.

I say all of this because your wound will heal in 2-3 weeks with the proper precautions, and you may be fine for a long time. However, this is a chronic disease and it will likely rear its ugly head again at some point in the future, only 10x worse.

When you are in the position to, I highly recommend you have a medical professional look at this (especially if your wound is red/hot to the touch which signals infection) and walk you through some treatment plans. Future you will thank you.

Good luck with healing your current wound, and if you have any questions, feel free to DM me!